London Weekend Break

A brief history of London

Today London is the capital city of Great Britain and it acts as the financial and parliamentary centre of the United Kingdom. It hosts international events, ranging in topic through commercial, political, cultural, social and educational. It is the largest and most densely populated city in Europe and has the most cosmopolitan mix of different nationalities and cultures! It is claimed that the peoples of London, when combined, speak over three hundred different laguages.

Historically London has been around for over 2000 recorded years, but its significance has not always been so great. There are also two loosely defined London's, the city of London and the Greater London metropolis.

The first serious archaeological evidence of a settlement on the site of what is now London dates back to the Roman invasion and occupation around the time of 43AD. Then the town was called Londinium and it would be built, raised to the ground and rebuilt many times as subsequent invasions and catastrophies hit its structures.

The conquerors and pillagers of London ranged from the home grown queen of the Celts, Boudica, to the Vikings and of course the Great Fire of London, but during all these events the town (and later the city) developed, expanded and as it did so it increased in importance.

The Vikings were the long term nemesis of London's prosperity for several centuries and although their raids were interspersed with home rule, it was not until the next great conquest, that of the Normans in 1066AD, that real stability arrived. This Norman invasion saw the last successful breach of London's city walls and from that point on successive invasion attempts would fail. Most notable amongst these was the Spanish Armada in 1588, but there were always other plans afoot and these ranged from those of the Scottish monarchs to the French commanded by Napoleon.

Most recently the London Blitz of the second world war saw the city subjected to repeated attacks on a scale never before seen, but the city and its people held strong. The pounding that London took was at that time unprecedented, yet somehow many of its important buildings managed to survive and many of those damaged were successfully restored. Today London remains a central city in not just Britain's but the worlds history.

For further information on London's history take a look at these excellent websites, Wikipedia on London's history and Britannia and the history of London.

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